For This Moment
by WhisperingRoseKnight
Summary: Gray constantly lives in the past and dwells on 'What if's. Erza avoids her past and strives for a better future for her and those around her. They both need to start living in the present or they will miss important things right in front of them. As they go through difficulties trying to conquer their pasts, they soon realise that the present is not such a scary place after all.
1. Chapter 1

The moon has always been interesting. If you just sit and look at it at night, you tend to think clearly and your decisions are made faster, you think of more options, your mind is more free, and yet everything is just calm at the same time. Well, at least that's what Gray thinks.

He is supposed to feel like his world is falling apart, that everything is just breaking around him, but he doesn't feel like that. He doesn't feel the need to scream out at the ocean in front of him, he doesn't feel like he needs help. He doesn't feel.

Tomorrow, Gray would have to start a new life. His martial arts teacher will take him in from tomorrow. She has agreed that she would pay for his schooling and allow him to stay by her in the holidays, and she is willing to take an orphan in since she has done it before. Ul, his teacher, has adopted another boy, Lyon, a few years ago, who had lost his family to a bank robbery in the mall while he was at home with friends. She took him in as if he was her own son. Gray has heard that Ul had a daughter before, but he doesn't know what happened to her.

A new college; a new family; a new life; a new beginning. And it all begins tomorrow.

Gray stands up, dusts the beach sand from his pants and walks in the opposite direction of the ocean, leaving the moon and stars in its own darkness.

A commotion could be heard as the noise echoed through the long corridor, rattling against every classroom door in its wake. Many students stop paying attention to their lecturers as they listen to the shouting belonging to the Captain of the Debate team. "Who do you think you are? You can't just bump a person over and apologise when you don't mean it? Especially when that person is carrying an important project that represents the future of the college! Do you know how long it took me to make that? Three solid weeks!"

As the girl went on and on about how important the project is, Gray stands still and simply stares at the girl, giving no emotion – which is probably the reason why she thought that he did not mean it when he apologised, but he can't help it. He can't get any emotion to surface.

The girl still continued to reprimand him and he really was not in the mood to listen to a person with a stupid captain badge, so he sighs, bends down and collects all the broken pieces of the project, placing them carefully into his arms and stands. Cutting her off, he asks flatly, "Where were you heading with this?"

The girl stops, blinks and responds, "Huh?"

Gray sighs again and rephrases his previous question, "To which lecturer were you going to with this project?" He lifts an eyebrow as he waits for an answer from the scarlet haired girl in front of him.

Erza's eyebrows furrows in confusion. No student has taken her scolding so calmly, they always have either a frightened expression or they just try to run away all together – never calm expressions. And he even cleans up the mess he made without her asking (or demanding) him to. "Professor Evergreen," she answers eventually. She watches as he looks down the corridor and looks back at her.

"What room is it?" he asks and her eyebrow lifts. Is he serious? He doesn't know which room Professor Evergreen's Lab is? Is he really trying to trick her? Noticing her annoyed expression, and, for the third time this morning, Gray sighs again. "I am the new guy here. I need to know the room number so you can go to class and I can explain what happened. What room is it?" he requests again, already tired of seeing this girls face.

"Oh," her eyes widen in realisation. So he is the new student that the dean has told her about. "Sorry about that. I'll show you where the lab is." She starts down the corridor that she was originally on her way to and she looks over her shoulder at the boy that bumped her over as he silently follows her with the same expressionless face he wore at the beginning of their confrontation.

"Just tell me where the class is," he says after a few moments of walking in silence. Erza's eyebrow twitches in irritation. _Is he really demanding something from me?_ she thinks hotly to herself as she pulls to a stop next to him, about to let him have it but he beats her to it. "I don't want you to be late for your class and seeing this mess-" he gestures to the broken project in his arms, he continues, "was caused by me, I'll explain what happened and try to get an extended time for it."

Shocked by his reasoning behind the request, Erza just turns and walks in the direction of the lab again. "Don't worry about it. I have to show you around the campus anyway – dean's request – so it wouldn't hurt if we started the tour off with the lab," Erza smiles at him, and she notices that he doesn't smile back.

"What? Really? I am no longer the new student anymore?" Lucy asks in disbelief.

Erza nods and continues, "Yes, his name is Gray Fullbuster. I am sure that he has Historical Studies with you."

Lucy smiles at the thought of meeting another person that has dared to take 'The Most Boring Major Ever'. Not one of her friends have taken Historical Studies and she was starting to feel lonely for that hour of the lecture.

"Lucy!"

As Lucy looks to the side to greet the source of the voice, she gets knocked off her bench by that very person. "Shit, Lucy! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Natsu apologises and helps her back onto her seat, making sure that he avoids making eye-contact with the scarlet demon that is glaring daggers at him.

Natsu has always been overly hyper and Erza knows this, but he should be a lot more gentler with Lucy. Lucy's fragile. Erza really thinks that he should get another hobby to try and drain his energy, but he is already doing so many sports, Erza is afraid that he might not have any time to study or complete his assignments.

"Natsu, what's up?" Lucy asks with a smile. Normally, when he was this energetic, Lucy knew that something good happened to Natsu, like yesterday he came to her with this huge smile on his face and he couldn't keep still because he went up in his Drama test by at least ten percent with the help from Lucy.

"There was an audition to the play by the theatre down the road," he says with such a huge grin on his face and pauses, willing her to carry on where his excitement made him incapable of speaking any more.

The smile on Lucy's face grows as she realises what he was implying. "No way!"

"Yeah!" Natsu practically shouts, laughing as he gives Lucy a hug out of excitement. Erza's eyebrow lifts as she watches the two interact, sipping from her water. "I got the lead part!"

Lucy pulls away from Natsu. "That's great. I told you that you can do it," Lucy says, laughing at how pleased Natsu is. She knew that he could do it because since she met him, he had been rehearsing the script for this play and has been doing improvised acts that freaked her out at first.

"Yeah, thanks Lucy," Natsu gives Lucy a thumbs up, his grin never leaving his face.

Erza places her water down and bites into an apple, observing their conversation. "Did you hear about the new guy, Natsu?" Lucy asks as he starts to dig into his meal. He gave a hum of agreement and Lucy just sighs, knowing that he wasn't really listening. "What's his name again, Erza? I have forgotten already."

Erza puts the apple core down and simply states, "Gray Fullbuster. Natsu's roommate." Erza's face scrunches up as food splashes at her face from Natsu spitting it out in surprise. Lucy's eyes widen in fear as Erza uses a napkin to wipe the food off her face. "Natsu..." Erza growls dangerously low and Lucy hears Natsu gulp from beside her.

"Uhm... E-Erza, do you know anything else about this Gray?" Lucy asks, trying to diffuse the situation.

Lucy sighs in relief when Erza places the napkin down and rests her head on her palm with her elbow resting on the table. "That's all that I really know. Dean Dreyar has told me to give him a tour of the college," Erza mumbles, Lucy and Natsu just catching her words. "But he never spoke or answered any of my questions."

Lucy tries to muster up the courage to ask the next question, "Erza?"

"Hmm?" Erza looks at Lucy.

She takes a deep breath, hoping that Erza would not turn violent when she asks, "Was that who you were shouting at earlier?" When Erza gives a blank face and doesn't respond, Lucy continues, "Something about a project..."

Erza thinks back to earlier today. Gray had tried to talk to Evergreen, but she just wouldn't listen and handed Erza extra activities to do as punishment for not handing in her project. "That bastard got me into trouble," Erza cuts Lucy off and the blonde and pinkette leans away from Erza as they practically see steam escape her ears in anger. "Got me doing extra work and projects for Evergreen, who wouldn't even listen when we tried to explain. If he had just let me do all the talking, I might've gotten away with getting extra time to complete the project if I had explained."

Just when Lucy thought that Erza was done complaining, Erza starts again, "And he didn't even get any punishment! I was the only one who got punished! That good-for-nothing fool." Erza crosses her arms over chest and puffs a breath out through her nose in anger as she clenches her jaw.

"Where is he anyway?" Natsu asks after a long moment of silence.

As Gray closed the door to the counsellor's office, he takes note of the slurred giggles behind him. He turns to the source and sees a brunette about his age and she is wearing a bikini. _Did she just come from the pool?_ _Gray wonders as he starts to walk away from her._ _Is there even a pool here?_

"Hey, boy."

Gray stops and turns back to the girl. "What are you in here for?" she asks. Gray simply stares at her, wondering what she is on about. "The counsellor's office? Normally you have major problems if you are sent here," the brunette slurs and takes a sip of her bottle. She stands up and walks to Gray, holding out her hand for him to shake. He does. "The name's Cana."

"Gray," he introduces himself and lets her hand go, shoving it in his pocket.

She laughs and takes a sip of her bottle. "You're the new guy, right?" Cana asks and Gray stays silent, already having enough with people asking him questions. He turns to walk away and Cana panics, fearing that she left a bad impression on the new kid. She wants people to think of her as an easygoing girl that they can come and talk to and just have fun with, not someone that people avoid. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, wait!" Cana reaches out for Gray and when he turns around, she breathes out a sigh. She drops her inquisitive urges to know what got the boy into going to counselling and states seriously, "Listen, I just want you to know that whatever you are going through, you don't have to do it alone. If you want, I can take you out for a drink sometime, get you used to your surroundings." Cana smiles, hoping that he doesn't dismiss her like he did just moments ago.

Gray looks her over again and notes that she is genuine with her offer. He sighs and hums in agreement, giving a nod in her direction before turning and walking off, satisfied now that he can leave.

Cana stares in confusion at Gray. _Is that guy serious? He agrees to plans but doesn't give any details as to how they will contact each other._ She sighs, giving up on the man and walks into the counsellor's office.

Gray was supposed to go to the students' lounge; at least, that is what he has been told. There is one problem: he doesn't know where to go from here.

Gray sighs and continues walking, hoping that he doesn't look lost because that would just be embarrassing. He should've just asked that girl, Cana, for directions, but he doesn't like the way she looked at him, he feels very uncomfortable when people stare at him like he is a hurt puppy – like those people at the funeral.

 _All these hallways look the same,_ Gray thinks to himself as he stops at another split in the hallway. He sighs and drags his fingers through his hair in frustration, continuing on the hall to his left. _Didn't I pass this door a while ago?_

Spotting a window with sunlight shining through it at the end of the hallway, he quickens his pace and yanks the door open once he reaches it. "You have got to be kidding me!" Gray yells in anger as he realises that he has walked right out of the building to the entrance of the university. Back to the start. Now he has to walk all the way back inside the building and maneuver his way until he gets to the lunchroom. This might take a while...

Looking at her watch, Erza gets up and starts packing her lunch away knowing that in seven minutes, her next class starts. Lucy looks up from her conversation with Natsu and asks Erza out of curiosity, "Where are you going?"

After shutting her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, Erza answers, "To class. It starts in six minutes. I don't want to be late. I have already disappointed one teacher, I don't want to disappoint another. See you later."

Lucy cocks her head to the side as she watches Erza walk off. Erza is always uptight and punctual and it intrigues Lucy to no end how Erza copes with her life. She goes to social gatherings, takes more classes than the rest of the students at this college, gets high marks, does hockey and she still has time to have lunch with her friends. Lucy knows that Erza's determination drives her to her goals, but what is that goal exactly?

"Oi, Lucy! You aren't listening to me. I am a very interesting person, you know?" Natsu crosses his arms in front of him and furrows his eyebrows at Lucy, annoyed. Lucy giggles and gives him her full attention as he continues his story from before.

Erza walks out the door onto the corridor leading to the fields where most students are sitting to absorb the winter sun. She turns, rounds the corner of the building and nearly collides with a person. _That is the second time today!_ she scolds herself. She knows that she shouldn't let her mind wander, she will get distracted from her work where one thing will lead to another and her marks will drop and she won't be able to study here anymore.

The person sighs and she looks up, her eyes narrowing in irritation. "You."

He rolls his eyes and sighs again, "I'm sorry. Again."


	2. Chapter 2

After finding the dean's office again and asking for directions, Gray walks down the corridor of the fourth floor to the boys' dorms as he heads for the last door and labelled on the door is 'Laxus Dreyar'. Gray knock on the door three times before it opens and reveals a tall, blonde haired guy with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt going over the right eye. With spiked-headphones hanging around his neck with music playing clearly from them, a video game playing on the screen in the man's room and a T-shirt that says, "Gamers Never Die, They Respawn!", Gray has a good idea why the blonde man has an annoyed expression directed at him.

"Gray Fullbuster? New guy?" Laxus asks gruffly and when Gray nods, he leans back and takes a set of keys hanging from the wall beside the door. "Room 77B. Need help finding it?" Gray shakes his head and catches the keys that Laxus has thrown to him. "Enjoy," Laxus comments and smirks, giving Gray the feeling that Laxus knows something that will make him feel completely opposite of that comment.

He walks back down the corridor in the direction of the stairs, and hears the sound of someone screaming, "Get out of my room!" Shaking his head, Gray hopes to not stay anywhere near that person because he doesn't want to stay up all night listening to a people shouting at each other. That was Gray's first task from his counselor: Get some sleep.

Stopping in front of the second door from the stairs on the left, Gray stands and studies the brass numbers attached to the door in the center. He looks down at the small, metallic key in his hand and takes a deep breath. This is the first step to independence, first step without people telling him what to do, when to do it or how to do it. This is his first step without them.

He pulls on his backpack's strap and takes a deep breath, calming himself down. He inserts the key into the doorknob and turns it slowly, feeling the click before opening the door. He looks around the room, taking in the sight. Whoever he is sharing the dorm with, Gray knows that he won't get along with him. To the left of him is the 'lounge', the shape of the couch is the only thing noticeable in the room. Articles of clothes and books are covering everything, the couch, the bookshelf, the desk and the coffee table. Gray is sure that the floor doesn't even exist since he can't see it. To Gray's right is the kitchen. The only thing that allows Gray to recognise it as the kitchen is because the fridge is left open and some yellow liquid is running down the contents of the fridge from a bottle lying on its side at the top of the fridge. The zinc is filled with filthy dishes piled high, which threatens to fall with the slightest gust of wind. Next to the zinc, the island separating the lounge and the kitchen is also packed full of discarded items. From the point where Gray is standing, he only hopes that the rest of the dorm (which now appears to be like a small apartment) does not look anything like the lounge and kitchen.

Tiptoeing over the discarded contents on the floor, not wanting to upset the potential disease-causing objects, he makes his way to the passage, which is a straight way from the doorway that he is standing in. He is relieved to see at least a little bit of the floor under his feet as the discarded objects seem to thin out. Looking up, Gray notices three doors in front of him: two bare of any decorations and one (the one on his right) looks like it is decorated with pictures pasted on by a toddler.

Guessing that the decorated door belongs to his 'buddy', Gray tries the door to his left. Opening the door, an awful smell enters his nose and he immediately shuts the door. Slumping his back against the bathroom door that he had just opened, he decides to himself that he is going to sock the guy that he is sharing the apartment with the first time he sees the guy.

Trying the last door (and hoping for the best), Gray is left speechless. The room is in mint condition, not a speck of dust could be seen. In the corner of the small room stands a small wardrobe and next to it is a single bed covered by a black blanket that matches the pillows. The walls are bare except for a single shelf to the right of the bed (which is directly opposite him) and next to the bed is a small side table with an alarm placed on top of it. Taking his backpack from his shoulders, he starts to take out his clothing, unwrapping them from each other. When he was young, Gray's mother had taught him how to pack clothing into each other, taking up space no bigger than a sock – underwear wrapped inside of a T-shirt, which is rolled and wrapped inside a sock. That is why the only things that is taking up space is his two pairs of pants, toiletries and his stationery, which consists of his art supplies and the usual things that he would need to study. He packed light because he didn't see the point in packing for two weeks when all that he needed was three of each thing; three shirts, three pairs of socks, three underwear, three pairs of pants. The only things that that aren't three are the shoes that he is wearing and his coat.

As he settles in, he hears shouts coming from outside his window, which is next to his shelf.

"What have I told you about doing that? What if you hurt yourself?"

Natsu scratches the back of his head and looks at Lucy in embarrassment. "Sorry, Luce, but it just takes so much time to go all the way downstairs, through the student lounge then all the way up the stairs again just to get to your room, where I can just jump from my window to yours in a matter of seconds," Natsu says while giving Lucy a huge grin, knowing that he won this argument.

Lucy narrows her eyes at him and fumes, "What if I was dressing? What if you miscalculated and missed my window? What if the window is closed and you don't see it, but you still jump? Have you ever thought of how I would react if any of those things happened?"

Natsu crosses his arms in displeasure and pouts. "But those things will never happen..." he trails off, mumbling to himself. Feeling really upset with the guy that had just jumped between two buildings four storeys off the ground and almost falling to his death, Lucy decides that some sense should be knocked into him.

After hearing a heavy thump coming from Lucy's room, Erza is curious to see what the blonde is up to. Erza gets up from the desk where she was studying and makes her way to Lucy's door. Knocking, Erza asks, "Everything alright in there? Lucy?"

Hearing hushing sounds coming from the other side of the door, Erza's temptation to open up and beat any intruder that thinks they can get past her seems to grow until Lucy answers back, "Everything is fine, Erza. I kind of just fell and I was telling myself how stupid I am to not see the edge of the bed." Erza hears Lucy trail off from her sentence with an awkward laugh, but she left the blonde alone, knowing that Lucy could be weird at times.

After a few moments of silence, Lucy hears Erza's footsteps retreat back to where the redhead was previously. "That was close," Natsu says and laughs, making the blonde glare at him. Giving another whack across the head for good measure, Lucy starts pushing Natsu to the window that he had jumped through a minute ago.

"Out!" she whisper-yells at Natsu, urging him to jump back to his room, which is just across from hers. "Quick, before Erza comes back and we both know that she will."

Obeying her wish, he climbs onto the window ledge but doesn't jump. "Wait, Luce. I came to let you know that you must get ready," he says quietly and turns to her.

She looks at him quizzically and asks, "Ready? Ready for what?"

He sends a big grin her way and answers, "I'm taking you out. There is a new coffee shop that opened up by the park. Dress warmly." Before Lucy could say anything, he leaps from her window and latches onto his and pulls himself up. Closing the window behind him, he gives her a big grin before walking off.

Rooted to her spot and eyes wide, all that Lucy can do is stare at Natsu's window as she processes what he has just said to her. He is taking her out. He is taking her out. He is taking her out!

Hearing a squeal come from Lucy's room, Erza make her way to Lucy's door once again and before she knocks, Lucy opens the door and gives Erza the brightest smile she could muster. Seeing Lucy almost burst with excitement, Erza steps back a bit and ask once she is at a safe distance, "What happened now that you are all... this?" Erza points at Lucy. Erza isn't sure how she should ask why her friend is happy because she has never seen Lucy this happy before.

Lucy's eyebrows furrow in confusion for a moment but then she starts talking so fast that Erza couldn't understand what she had said. Erza stands in front of Lucy with wide eyes. Lucy rolls her eyes and repeats what she has just said, but slower, "Natsu just asked me out on a date and I need you opinion on what I should wear, but keep in mind that he said that I should dress warmly even though we are just going out for coffee."

Erza blinks once before uttering, "Oh."

All excitement seems to seep away from Lucy as she takes in Erza's behavior. Erza doesn't seem to respond positively to what Lucy has said and Lucy feels very nervous now that she doesn't have Erza's enthusiasm. "What do you mean by 'Oh', Erza?" she asks, already afraid of the answer. Is she not good enough for Natsu? He does seem like a nice guy and Lucy would like to get to know him more, but if Erza disapproves then Lucy won't go with Natsu.

Erza shrugs after relaxing. "Just oh," Erza says and gives Lucy a small smile, faintly hearing the sound of crashing coming from outside Lucy's window. "I don't think that it's a date."

Lucy is taken aback. She was expecting Erza to flat out say that Lucy shouldn't go out with Natsu or that Erza wouldn't speak to her if she goes out with the guy, but not this. "How do you know?" Lucy asks hesitantly.

"You bastard! Are you a pig, because only pigs could live in this pigsty!" came a shout from the outside and right after that, more shouting takes place.

Erza focuses back on Lucy. Lucy looks as if she was told that her dog died. "He isn't the type to date," Erza says, trying to let Lucy off easily. "When he says coffee, he means just coffee. Nothing else."

Lucy looks down after staring at Erza in shock for a few seconds. "Right. What was I thinking?" she says and slowly goes back into her room, shutting the door behind her.

A few minutes later, Lucy is standing in the student lounge, staring solemnly at the trees in the distance. The winds seem to be a little strong, but that is expected for the beginning of autumn, Lucy notes. "Yo, Lucy! You ready?" Natsu asks from behind her and he sees her nod, but she doesn't turn to look at him. That's strange... He walks until he is next to her and looks out in the direction that she is looking in and he can't decide if she is looking at the glass in front of her or the trees in the distance. He looks back at her and asks, "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head and smiles softly at him. She reaches out, pulls the glass door open and steps out into the chilly wind, him following close behind. Not knowing what else to say, they walk to the coffee shop in a dreadful silence.


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu places the cup of coffee in front of Lucy, snapping her out of her thoughts. She thanks him and takes the cup as he sits opposite her. He studies her as she takes a small sip of her cup and looks everywhere but at him. "Did I do something wrong?" he asks, trying to figure out why she was acting weirder than normal. As far as he knows, he didn't do anything wrong so why is she like this all of a sudden?

Startled, she looks at him. His eyebrows knits together, his jaw is set, a small frown on his lips and his eyes holds so much confusion and regret, it makes her realise that this was all her doing. She needs to let the conversation she had with Erza go, because it is her fault for making Natsu feel like he had done something wrong. He hasn't done anything wrong.

He has done everything right so far. From walking her to her classes even if he doesn't have classes at the time or even if he is late for his class to his impromptu visits through her window. He has brought a smile to her face with just his actions and he has annoyed her with is words. But mostly, he's the first friend that she had made when she came to this college and he stuck with her, even though he calls her weird so many times. Thinking of this brings a smile to her face.

Lucy smiles at him and he notes that it wasn't the same smile that she had given him back at the student lounge. This smile is her true smile, one that shows no lies. "You did absolutely nothing wrong, Natsu," she assures him and takes a sip from coffee. He sighs in relief. It feels as if a big weight has been lifted off his shoulder now that he knows that he didn't cause Lucy's displeasure.

Lucy sees him deflate like a balloon in his chair and she giggles softly to herself. Maybe being just friends isn't such a bad thing.

"Erza Scarlet?" Erza stops heading to the door and looks back at Professor Evergreen. "Here," the professor says, giving Erza a paper. "Well done."

Erza watches as Professor Evergreen makes her way back to her desk before exiting the lecturing hall. Erza looks down at the paper and the first thing that catches her eye is the mark allocation. An A- for the project that was broken. She knows that she shouldn't get a mark like this since she hasn't fixed the project yet. She was going to do it later that day. Not liking the feeling of confusion bounce around her head, she makes her way back to the hall.

"Professor, what is this mark for?" Erza inquires as she strides up to the desk.

Evergreen looks up at Erza and answers, "The project that you handed in. Excellent work, even though I never thought that you would put the project together that quickly. I fully expected you to come back later on and take it to finish it off tonight. You never cease to surprise me, Scarlet. Getting that new student to get it for you while you were in class so that you can quickly do it in between classes was a brilliant idea." As the professor smiles at Erza, the pieces start to click together. She wipes the surprise off her face and sets her expression firm.

"Thank you, Professor. Enjoy your day," Erza greets and exits the hall, making a beeline for Natsu's dorm.

Knocking four times, she opens the door and mentally notes that she should scold Natsu for leaving the door unlocked. As she opens the door, the heavy smell of detergents enters her nose and she brings her arm over her face so that her inner elbow covers her nose.

"Hello? Natsu! Gray!" she calls into the empty dorm. No answer comes back. She makes her way over the discarded items and into the passage. Behind the vacuum cleaner, she sees a mop of dark hair. Walking forward, she sees Gray passed out against the wall with an elbow resting on a bent knee and a cloth hanging from his outstretched hand. Taking note of all the cleaning equipment lying around and the source of the detergent's smell coming from the bathroom, it appears that Gray tried to clean up some of the mess in the bathroom. Erza knows how difficult it is to clean up Natsu's mess. The last time she attempted to help clean, she had to call for a professional cleaning crew.

Erza ties up her hair, rolls up the sleeves of her jersey and takes the cloth from Gray's hand. "I guess it's the least that I can do," Erza says and walks into the bathroom, steeling herself for what she is about to do.

Waking up to the sound of loud humming, Gray groans and looks in the direction of the noise. It seems to be coming from the lounge. Gray looks around him and sees that the passage that he is sitting in is clear of any items, the bathroom doesn't seem to reek anymore and a small blanket is put over him. Pulling the blanket to the floor, gray gets up and makes his way to the lounge.

His eyes widen at the sight before him. He can see the floor, he can see the couch, he can see the windows and bookshelves. The room is clean. Erza was vacuuming and has her back towards him, so she hasn't seen him yet and he is grateful since he really looks stupid with his mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers from the shock of the room being clean. It took him at least an hour to clean what he could in the bathroom, but the detergents were too strong and breathing the fumes in while cleaning gave Gray a terrible headache. So he decided to take a short nap, but he woke up to nearly the whole dorm that has been cleaned by someone else other than him. He can't have slept that long, could he?

Erza switches off the vacuum cleaner and wipes her brow. Now that she is done with the last thing, which is the carpet, she can head back to her dorm to study. Since today is a lazy day (she only had to attend one class, which was Professor Evergreen) Erza's not to worried about her time management of the day. If it were any other day, she would've left the dorm the way it was and not bother helping. "All done," Erza says and smiles. Turning and about to walk out the dorm, she stops and stares at Gray.

He scratches the back of his head in nervousness and approaches Erza. "Thanks," he mutters and shoves his hands into his pockets.

Erza crosses her arms and replies, "Now we're even. I don't owe you and you don't owe me." His eyebrows rise in surprise. So she figured it out, huh? He sighs. "Yeah, I found out about you doing my project for me and saying that I had done it between classes. A flaw that I shall point out - I only had one class today, and if the professor finds out that you had lied, I'll be expelled."

The tone that she is using on him is stern and to the point and Gray hates it. It makes him feel as if he is a child and his mother is scolding him again. "It was the least that I could do, since I was the one that broke your project," Gray stated indifferently, hoping that she could get the message and change her tone. He did nothing wrong, so why was she treating him like a kid?

"Well, I don't need your help. I could've fixed that project on my own," she states stubbornly. She could've done it on her own, she didn't need help. If she needed help, she would've asked someone more reliable like Levy or Lucy. "How do I know if you have put the model back together correctly? If I had done it myself, I could assure myself of the mark that I have gotten, but since you had done it for me," Erza accuses with narrow eyes, "I am unsure of the marks. I could've gotten higher than I have gotten."

"Or lower," Gray adds with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What?" Erza snaps. Did he just doubt her? "Did you just say that I would've gotten lower marks if you didn't do the project?" When Gray shrugs his shoulders, Erza starts to feel her anger boil. How can someone feel so nonchalantly about something this important? Does he not see that her school career – her future – rides on the current topic that they are discussing? "Is that so? Care to explain why?"

Gray sees her lips pull into a straight line and her jaw clenches in anger. Deciding on the calm approach to the conversation, Gray has known that it always angers demanding people like the redhead in front of him. And if she realises that she is blowing up at him, she would be too embarrassed to do it again. Gray sighs and answers her in the same indifferent tone that has used in the whole conversation, "Well, you were trying to prove that viruses are non-living. I explained from an overall approach, stating facts from both side whereas you were just stating from the one side. Viruses are both living and non-living organisms due to the fact that their bodies have the components of a living organism, but needs a host to survive. Therefore, it is both living and non-living," Gray says, then smirks when he knows that he is right. "Admit it, you wouldn't have gotten those marks if it wasn't for me."

That last statement sends Erza over the edge. Her hands ball up and she starts to approach Gray, just about to make him a non-living organism before a shout is heard from Erza's right. "That's enough!"

Turning, both Gray and Erza are surprised to see Lucy walking towards them with Natsu following. With eyebrows furrowed, Lucy looks at the two in front of her in disappointment. "You hear what you are both arguing about, right?" Lucy asks and shakes her head. Gray and Erza's eyes widen at her question. "Marks that can't be changed." She looks at Gray and says softly, "Look, I know that you just wanted to fix what you have broken, but you can't do another student's work for them. People over here are very proud of their work." She looks at Erza next and her tone hardens, "Can't you at least say thank you? He went out of his way to help you out."

"But-" Erza starts but Lucy cuts her off.

"No 'buts', Erza. You can't go crying over spilt milk," Lucy takes a deep breath after she says this. She knows how Erza can be, and it is almost impossible to get an apology of a word of thanks out of the redhead.

"How long have you been here?" Gray asks Lucy and gives Natsu the stink eye. It was Natsu's fault why the dorm was in a mess and he didn't even stay behind to help clean.

"A few minutes ago," Lucy answers and folds her arms in front of her. She had basically seen the argument start. "You guys were too busy arguing to notice that we were standing in the doorway. We could hear you both from the student lounge." She looks around the room and sees that everything is clean and tidy. She nearly explodes when she sees Natsu take his jacket off and just dumps it on the floor next to the couch. "Natsu..." she seethes and Natsu flinches when he hears her warning tone, stopping in his track. He turns back to her slowly, looks to where she is pointing and laughs nervously. "Gray and Erza have worked hard to get this dorm how it is now. The least you can do is keep it that way!" Lucy yells and Natsu tries to make a quick getaway when he sees the murderous intent in the blonde's eyes.

Watching the scene unfold, Erza realises that she was the first at fault in the argument between her and Gray. She looks at him and grits her jaw, hating that she has to apologise first. Gray looks at her with a steady gaze and sees that she is uncomfortable with whatever she is thinking about. When she opens her mouth and words fail to make it out, Gray knows what she is trying to do. He shakes his head and she looks at him curiously. "Don't worry about it," he says and gives her a small smile. It was partly his fault why they were arguing, he shouldn't have done her project for her. He turns and goes back to his room, stepping over a half beaten Natsu and closes his door.

Erza tilts her head curiously at Gray's retreating back and wonders how he could be so nonchalant after an argument, and he just blew off her apology like he knew what she was about to say. "At least do the dishes when we leave," Erza hears Lucy shout as she stares at the space in front of her. "Come on, Erza. Let's go get cake, I'm in the mood for something sweet," Lucy says and grabs Erza by the wrist, walking out the dorm and shutting the door.

Erza doesn't like how Gray can be so nonchalant about everything where the rest of them have to stress about schoolwork, sports or life itself. She intends to make sure that Gray will realise the stress that the rest of them have so that he doesn't assume that everyone can be like him and get into this university just because parents have the money. Gray hasn't worked for his spot in the university and if he wanted something, he would have to work hard for it. Erza will make sure of that.

 _Hi everyone. Well, here is another chapter. I would like to dedicate this chapter to an awesome person, Janell Harris, for the first review for this story. It really means a lot, thank you. To all of you reading this, thank you for sticking with this story, it is my first story on FanFiction and i was very nervous to post it. I do appreciate that you are reading my story and giving it a chance. Anyway, please enjoy the rest of your day!_


	4. Chapter 4

Continuous, but hesitantly soft, knocks sounds at the door and Erza stops brushing her hair. As far as she knows, she isn't expecting company and Lucy is out and about on the grounds doing whatever she does during her time outside of class. She walks over and opens the door, one hand holding the doorknob and the other holding her hair up in a ponytail with a hairband hanging from her mouth. When she opens the door, she is greeted with the sight of a mumbling Natsu. "Natsu?" she asks through clenched teeth that still holds her hair band.

Natsu looks up at Erza with the calmest expression he can pull. He knows that it's a surprise to her that he would be standing at their door. He usually jumps though Lucy's window, but Gray had prevented him from doing that by nailing his window shut. Natsu couldn't find a hammer so he has decided that he would be a normal person and use the front door, like normal and boring people.

Speaking of Gray, it was that idiot's idea to do this but the guy ditched Natsu, leaving him to accomplish this mission on his own. That stupid idiot.

He looks down in embarrassment and brings his arm up to Erza's view, a plastic bag hanging from his fingers. "Thanks for cleaning my dorm…" Natsu trails off, feeling awkward that he is doing this. Through all the years that Natsu has known Erza, he has never had to thank her verbally. He would normally do it through actions, like doing favours that Erza askes of him or gathering information on certain students since he is more social that she is. He has never really _thanked_ her.

Over pizza the previous night, Gray has asked Natsu whether Erza knew that those things that he has done for her is his way of saying thanks. When Natsu stayed silent, Gray had told him to at least get her a present to show his appreciation. And the bastard is not even there to help poor Natsu.

Erza hesitantly takes the bag from him, unsure if Natsu has turned this unusual gesture of kindness into one of his pranks. She turns and walks to the counter, puts the bag down and continues to tie her hair as Natsu waits in the hallway, as if he is waiting for her to invite him in. She looks to him and calls, "What are you standing out there for?" He flinches and slowly makes his way into her dorm, taking a seat by the counter and resting his chin on the cold surface. Natsu is acting strange and the feeling that the bag might be a prank grows stronger.

Natsu looks up at Erza, seeing her eye the bag and take two steps away from the counter. Knowing Erza, she probably suspects that the bag was rigged. Natsu had warned Gray that morning that Erza will think that he was pulling a prank on her from this uncommonly kind gesture. Natsu would never pull a prank on Erza again because she won't hesitate to beat him to a pulp. "Don't worry, it's just cake," he states flatly and smoothens out the bag, showing the logo of the coffee shop that he bought it from.

Just as those words leave his mouth, Erza rips open the packet (knocking his hand out of the way) and pulls out the box, opens it and produces a fork out of nowhere. She groans in content as she savours its sweetness as soon as the cake reached her mouth.

Silence fills the room and Natsu starts feeling uncomfortable. He doesn't know what to do in this situation. Sure, Erza and Natsu go way back, but she scares him and he always caused trouble in their earlier days so he has always gotten a scolding from her. He has grown used to it and she was always used to how he went about things with a lot of energy. Never has it been so quiet and heavy between them.

"So, how have you been, Natsu?"

Natsu looks up, suddenly feeling exhausted from the day itself. "Just tired," he mumbles, placing his chin on his hand with his elbow resting on the counter. She raises an eyebrow as she takes another bite of the cake, prompting him to continue. "That bastard irritates me," Natsu sighs and drags his hands through his hair furiously, referring to Gray. "He was the one that said that I must thank you with a gift or something. And since you like cake, I thought that it was a safe option. Then he started asking these weird questions that got me thinking. And I couldn't answer his questions because I didn't know what to say and he walked off without helping me just because I couldn't answer him…"

It went on like this until Erza put down her fork, her cake finished. She links her hands together in front of her face as her elbows rests on the counter. She looks at Natsu, who started mumbling after a few more sentences, and clears her throat. "I know that you appreciate my help because you have never declined a favour from me," she says in a light voice and he sighs, but her face turns stoic her eyes narrow at him right after that statement and he sucks that sigh back in. "So I don't know why you let someone else make you decide on how you feel or how you're supposed to act. He doesn't know what we went through so why should you listen to his opinion? It might seem like I don't pay attention to the world around me, but that doesn't mean that I don't take note of your actions. Don't let him fool you into acting differently."

Natsu blinks. He didn't think that he would get a response like that from Erza. He knows that she puts a lot of thought behind most of her actions and she never makes irrational decisions. So to say what she just did, she has put a lot of reasoning behind her words. Although harsh, her words brought a warm feeling to him. He wasn't sure that he could show his gratitude for what she did for him when he was younger, but her words just show that she does understand.

He let the breath that he was holding out slowly as he slumps back onto the counter. "Thanks…"

Erza gives him a small smile, collects the cake box and packet and throws them into the bin next to the sink. She turns and leans on the sink behind her, looking up at the clock. "Natsu." He hums in response, too tired to sit up and face her. He wonders if Lucy's bed is more comfortable than his bed and if it is, he is sure that Lucy wouldn't mind if he just borrowed it for a few minutes to take a nap. After that despondent reply, Erza raises an eyebrow and states two words that can make anyone run a marathon just to get to it, "You're late."

Without another word, Natsu was out the door and running down the corridor and just made it to the lecturing hall five minutes late.

* * *

"Have you been sleeping, Gray?"

He keeps his face expressionless as he stares blankly at Mirajane, wondering how many more times she will be asking that question. The last couple of days, Gray had to visit her for one hour every day and each day she asks him the same questions – Have you been eating; have you made friends; are you settling in fine; have you slept. Honestly, he is sick of it. Sick of the same questions that he has heard over and over again. Sick of the same scrutinizing gaze that all psychologists give him. Sick of having to repeatedly dive back into memories that he so desperately avoids. Sick of having to deal with people. Sick of it all.

After a minute of blinking being the only response to her questions, Mira sighs and leans back in her chair. It has been the same thing since Gray has arrived at this college. He is unwilling to answer any questions that she asks him. The only progress that she has made since the first day is that he hasn't left the room yet. That is progress, right?

She has read his file and read what has happened, but she has also realised that he is quickly cutting everyone and everything off – and that is never a good sign.

She looks at the time again and notes that it has been forty-five minutes, much longer than it was the day before. Seeing as nothing else could be done in the session, she opens his file and writes down the progress of the day before offering, "You may leave, but don't forget tomorrow."

Gray nods once and pushes himself out of the chair. After hearing the door click shut, Mira pages back in the file to his details.

 _Name: Fullbuster, Gray_

 _Gender: Male_

 _Age: 19_

 _Occupation: Student, Unemployed_

 _Parents: Fullbuster, Silver (Father) (Deceased); Fullbuster, Mika (Mother) (Deceased)_

 _Events that led up to Therapy: Parents killed in robbery shootout and Gray Fullbuster was witness._

She closes the file and rests her head back on the chair, looking up at the ceiling that is detailed with interesting designs that the art group of two years ago decided to do.

"That boy has a long way to go," she mutters to the empty room. "I just hope that he doesn't give up just yet."

* * *

After closing the door, Gray turns and sees that girl from last time sitting on one of the chairs outside of Mirajane's office. If his memory serves him right, her name is Karma or something. At least she has a proper shirt on this time instead of her bikini. He lets a sigh out, really not ready to deal with people after that session with Mirajane, and continues to walk down the corridor.

"Hey, Gray!" he hears her call out and he groans, quickening his steps. "Didn't you forget your jacket in there?"

He stops and looks at his torso, seeing no jacket covering his Hawaiian themed shirt. He grunts in disappointment as he turns on his heel and heads back to the office. After retrieving it, he walks out the office and thanks the girl before hurriedly walking away.

The girl sees his disappearing attempt and decides to tag along behind him. "You know, we still haven't had that coffee that we organised the other time," she drawls and takes a sip of her bottle. "Wanna head there now?"

Gray continues to walk, trying to ignore her.

"I know that you don't have anything to do now. You're just going to go back to your dorm and do nothing," she adds and smiles when she sees him stop.

He looks over to her and furrows his eyebrows, mouth slightly agape as he wonders how she just guessed what he was going to do. She gives him a smirk and pulls up a card in between her middle and index finger, "The cards told me so." He looks to the wall beside them and breathes in deeply, letting it out slowly as he refrains from face palming himself at how ridiculous she sounds. The cards told her so? Cards don't speak.

However, she took this as him giving up and agreeing to go with her. "Great! I know just the café that sells the best coffee."

* * *

"Seriously?" Lucy squeals as she looks admiringly at Levy. "You'd let me?"

Levy covers her mouth and giggles at her fellow bookworm. "Of course," she states as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can come over and borrow any book you want. I'll even give you a spare key just in case my shifts at the library change."

Lucy smiles and pulls Levy into a hug, thanking her repeatedly. Levy is shocked by the sudden movement but soon hugs Lucy back with a fond smile on her face.

They continue to walk towards the picnic tables on the college grounds and Lucy glances over to the left where the baseball diamonds are when she hears the sound of the baseball hitting a aluminium bat. She heard that some guys from the college gets together and has a game for fun amongst them every Tuesday and Thursday after all classes. It must be fun to just team up randomly and have fun, Lucy thinks glumly to herself. She didn't have a lot of friends growing up, considering that she grew up where there were no kids her age.

The person who hit the ball into the centre outfield runs swiftly as if he wasn't touching the ground and makes it to second base. The players get back to their respective positions after the outfielder sent the ball back to the pitcher and Lucy vaguely notes that the one that just batted is way smaller than the rest of the players and probably comes up to the second baseman's chest.

Lucy looks closer as she sits at the table, the runner is really thin and if Lucy hadn't seen him hit the ball so far into the outfield, she wouldn't have believed it.

"It's quite exciting, hey?" Levy asks as she sees Lucy's full attention on the game. Lucy looks back at Levy and grins. "Doesn't the shortstop look a little familiar?" Levy asks and smirks, knowing how Lucy will react once she sees him.

Lucy looks back to the game and narrows her eyes, trying to identify which player is which. She doesn't really know a lot about baseball and she does get confused with the positions. She knows that the person who catches the ball and stays behind the batter is the catcher; the one who throws the ball from the centre of the diamond is the pitcher; second base is the corner which is opposite of the catcher and the centre outfielder is the person in the centre of the outfield… Lucy assumes that she is correct…

"Which one is shortstop?" she asks without taking her eyes off the players. Who is so familiar that Levy would have to point him out?

Levy's smirk grows bigger as she answers, "The only one with pink hair."

Lucy's eyebrows draw in as she searches for one with pink hair as she can't find him at first glance. "Why would anyone have pink…" She trails off as her eyes grow wide and a light blush sprinkles over her cheeks. She purses her lips shut and quickly looks down at her hands on the table, twiddling her thumbs.

At that moment, Levy bursts out in laughter and Lucy glares at her through her fringe. It was no secret that Lucy likes the Natsu and Lucy has a hard time hiding her feelings from the people around her. She isn't that good of an actor. Levy has seen it ever since Natsu helped Lucy get a book from a shelf that was out of her reach.

That day, Levy was supposed to work double shifts at the library but after seeing that happen, she ditched her duties and watched them interact until they left. Being small has its advantages. Natsu was looking for a new comic to read and Lucy was looking for an Ancient Greek Translations book that was in the next isle. After Natsu helped Lucy, he asked if Lucy could help him a bit with his script practise after her studying and they left the library, talking animatedly with each other. Levy has known Lucy slightly longer than Natsu and she can already see that Lucy likes the pink-haired boy, even though they have just known each other for a few weeks.

"Levy~" Lucy whines as her cheeks go more red from embarrassment. She puts her head down on her arms and silently hopes that the ground will open up and swallow her or the table will break and Levy will stop teasing her. Either option sounds good.


	5. Chapter 5 - Where's the 'On' switch?

"Hey, you actually hit a double today. You are getting better," Lucy hears Natsu praise his companion who is walking quietly beside him and Lucy looks up from her cell phone. His companion had on dark blue trousers that bagged at the ankles, sneakers that were white before the practice but now the sand clung to it, giving a slight orange colour and a maroon hoodie with a picture of a white cat on the front – the little boy looked as if he was drowning in it. He looked to be about twelve years old and had hopeful brown eyes that were the paragon of innocence in the youth today.

Lucy sees the little boy smile shyly as Natsu puts his hand on the boy's helmet in encouragement as Natsu strings along more compliments of the boy's plays during the practice and Lucy smiles, a little sad that she didn't have an older sibling to look out for her but still grateful for all the people who raised her.

Lucy gets up from the picnic table that she and Levy were sitting at, grabbing her jersey as she stood. A few minutes ago, the Librarian called Levy to help the newbies out in the library, leaving Lucy to sit by herself. Lucy doesn't have anything else planned for the day and she doesn't want to go back to the dorms just yet. The atmosphere is too nice to go back inside, the air is cool and the sun shines peacefully onto the grounds. A few leaves fall lazily in the gently breeze around the table and a few birds fly overhead, cawing insistently.

She walks slowly to Natsu, enjoying the interaction between the two. As she gets closer, Natsu looks up and smiles at Lucy and Lucy returns it, a slight blush dusting her cheeks as she tucks her hair behind her ear. Natsu drops his hand from the boy's helmet and tucks his hands into his jacket pockets, asks with his head tilting to the side, "Heya, Luce. Aren't you cold?"

Lucy shrugs, the smile still on her face as she drapes her jacket over her forearm. "It's a nice day." She looks to the little boy and stretches out her hand, saying, "Hi, I'm Lucy. You play competently."

The little boy's cheeks go red and he looks down, his helmet now covering his face. Lucy hears a small, "Thank you," and she giggles softly as she looks over to Natsu.

He put his hand on the boy's shoulder, speaking up for him, "Lucy, this is Wendy." Lucy blinks. Wendy? Isn't that usually a girl's name? "Yeah, a little on the shy side but she has a great arm at swinging." So she _is_ a girl… Oops…

Lucy bends her knees a bit as she rest her hands on them, now level with the small _girl_. Lucy smiles, hoping that she could put Wendy at ease, "It's nice to meet you, Wendy."

Wendy slowly looks up at Lucy and gives her a grateful smile. She turns to Natsu and takes off the helmet, handing it to him. Lucy's eyes widen as the Wendy's late-night blue hair cascades down her back and stops just above her waist. Wendy's hair is a bit messy from being trapped under the helmet but it still has that silky, glossy look, as if she went to the hairdresser every day. _All of that hair fits under that small helmet?_

"Thank you, Natsu," Wendy says and starts pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She turns to Lucy as soon as she is finished with her hair and chitters while giving a little bow, "It was nice to meet you, Miss Lucy." Without another word and before Lucy could say anything, Wendy turns and jogs towards the field gates, disappearing from view in a matter of seconds.

"She was quite pleasant, Lucy says while adjusting Natsu's tog-bag on her shoulder, walking next to Natsu as he balances on a small fence separating the hockey fields from the rest of the grounds. "Does she always play baseball with you?"

"Yeah," Natsu lets out an impressed scoff. "That's why she is the top player of her school… Well, I think she is. Those jerks there at her school think that she is a joke. Little do they know that she plays against university men for practice. Imagine if she had to play against kids her age – she'd whip their butts!" Natsu gave a small chuckle, showing how proud he is of Wendy. "Once she gets on a team, they won't know what hit them." Natsu grins in satisfaction and looks at Lucy before bending down and sitting on the fence, bringing one knee up to his chin while the other leg hangs over the side. His grin slowly turns to a solemn smile.

"Why doesn't she play for a team then?" Lucy inquires, her head tilting to the side in curiosity. Natsu crosses his arms over his knee, burying his face in them as he mutters a reply but Lucy couldn't hear him. "Natsu?" she asks and walks up to him, wondering why her question got him that upset. "Doesn't she want to be on a team?" She places her hands on his forearms and rubs her thumbs over them, encouraging him to look at her and explain further.

He mumbles something more and Lucy picks up a few words. "Wendy… team… boys… play..." Lucy tries to form a proper sentence but she can only come up with one result.

"Wendy has to be in a team with the boys to play…" Lucy asks happily but halts when Natsu glares at her and she trails off her sentence, "…or not?"

His glare doesn't falter as he starts to point out, "How can she play when they only allow boys to play baseball? How can she play on the boys' team if she is a girl? She is embarrassed enough to like baseball, now you want her to play with them? And how can-" he stops short when Lucy gives him a small smile and he feels her hands lightly squeeze his arms. "She has tried, you know," he sighs as he straightens his bent leg and sits properly on the fence.

"How about we go grab something to eat?" Lucy suggests and Natsu smiles a bit, relieved of the change of topic.

* * *

If Gray is correct this time, he should be by the library if he turns left.

For the past fifteen minutes, he has been walking around the campus trying to find the library but came up blank for a couple tries until he texted Cana, asking for directions from the art hall. She gave him directions but to return the favour, he had to get her a bottle of _liquid inspiration_ afterwards.

Turning left, a double-door stands open in front of him and the word _Library_ on a plank of wood is nailed to the top of the door frame. The doors are a deep brown colour and the small windows on the top-half of the doors have interesting patterns in them, giving the entrance a bit more life.

Walking in, Gray immediately feels the change in temperature as he hears the soft hum of the AC, the floor a sturdy feeling due to it being tiles and about two dozen rows of books stacked on shelves that almost reach the ceiling. To the back of the room are two rows of computers that are boxed in (like cubicles) to give privacy to the users. Along the walls, except for the corner on his left, are stacked with shelves filled with books but are shorter than the other rows of shelves. In the centre of the room between the rows of shelves are two rows of desks put together and a chair at each desk. The corner on his left has two bean-bags with a small side-table and two coasters with a glass of clear liquid on the one coaster.

Gray walks towards the computers and tries to switch on the one to the far left, far from the entrance but nothing happens. He presses the power button again but nothing happens. He brings the machine forward and inspects the back part. Only seeing wires of different colours and not really seeing anything else, he turns to the screen and tries to switch that on but as before, nothing happens. He slumps in the chair with an exasperated sigh leaving his lips. Now he is going to have to walk around and find a job. He cant let Ul pay for his studies by herself - he has to help out somehow.

All is quiet until he hears the sound of items dropping and a single curse word following that coming from his far right. His head snaps to the direction of the sound before getting up from the chair and he starts making his way past the computers. His eyebrows knit together as he tries to put a face to the familiar voice. He walks between a pair of shelves where he thinks the noise came from and he sees scattered pens and pencils right at the end. Without hesitating, he bends down and helps collect the stationery before looking up as his face goes slack from disbelief.

Erza purses her lips, silently wondering why the universe hates her so much as she stares at Gray, whose expression tells her that he did not expect this as well. She looks back down as she tries to pick up her small ruler but her false nails wouldn't allow that to happen.

Gray watches her struggle for a few moments, an amused grin tugging at his lips before he reaches a hand out to the ruler. Erza stops trying to pick it up and allows Gray to put the ruler into her pencil-bag. They both stand and she narrows her eyes at his grin, not in the slightest amused by needing someone to pick up her things for her. It was a small grin, nothing too noticeable but the smidge of amusement in his dark eyes is what irritates her. She did not need his help, he helped her enough already. And if this is anything like the last time, something bad is bound to happen. She takes a step away from him and mutters, "Thanks."

Before she turns and disappears, he asks her, "Is there a problem with the computers? I can't turn them on." He sees her sigh as if she would rather be anywhere but near him. He doesn't necessarily like her but he doesn't hate her and he has a feeling that she doesn't want anything to do with him, which doesn't make him feel terrible at all. He understands why she wouldn't like his presence so he won't push it.

Erza can already feel a headache building as she pinches the bridge of her nose. If she doesn't leave now, she will be going into her Business Studies study time and that would just mess up her whole schedule. She looks at her watch and calculates how much free time she can spare. Twelve minutes that she can spare. "Did you switch it on?" she asks.

He rolls his eyes and answers flatly, "Of course I did." He might be terrible with computers but he isn't that bad.

"Did you switch it on by the wall?"

His eyebrows rise a little at the question. He did not think to try it by the wall. Why would they even turn it off by the wall? And where was the wall switch? He didn't even see it.

She puffs air out through her nose when he doesn't answer; really wanting this conversation to be done so she can leave. She looks at her watch again. "How could you not even switch it on by the wall? It's proper etiquette to switch on all the computers if you're the first person here. Next time, I suggest doing so before making a fool of yourself," Erza states before turning on her heel and leaving.

He raises an eyebrow at her 'suggestion'. "It's proper etiquette, huh? Then I guess it's not just the project that you would have failed at," he announces, his voice echoing. Now that she has pointed it out, he didn't see anyone in the library when he came in. His expression turns flat as he watches her turn sharply on her heels and makes her way back to him, a pissed off expression on her face. Just because he doesn't mind her, doesn't mean that he'll just let her boss him around and try to make a fool out of him for no reason at all. When she stops right in front of him and opens her mouth to protest, he cuts her off, "I assume that you were here before me so that made _you_ the first person. Why didn't you turn them on? Why scold me when you are just as capable of doing so? Next time, before belittling others, look at your own actions. Maybe you won't make a fool of yourself like you just did," he mocks her earlier words. For extra measure, he raises his eyebrows just a little bit as one corner of his lips tugs upwards.

She takes a deep breath as her eyes narrow at him. "I didn't need to use them," she argues. She has about seven minutes left to get back to her dorm. If she walked fast enough, she could make it there in five minutes, which leaves her with about two minutes to spare. "So it was your duty to turn them on."

"But you said that the first person in here had to turn them on and you were the first person, so…" Gray argues back, not allowing her to walk all over him like the rest of _them_ did.

They hear voices coming from the door and they both look over to where about a dozen students lead by an older woman enters, giving them both the stink-eye. Maybe they did start to argue a bit more loud than needed. Those must be the new library helpers, Erza guesses as she spots Levy running in after the others. Erza grits her teeth together as she turns and glares at Gray, who has that small glint of amusement in his eyes again. "Don't mess with me, Fullbuster," she whispers firmly.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Gray mocks. If she wants to threaten just because she made a fool of herself, she can do it but Gray won't be on the receiving end of her threats without a good reason. And this argument definitely is not a good reason. In fact, this argument is quite childish. Fighting over who should have turned on the wall switch? Quite childish, indeed, but Gray will not be made into a fool for someone else's arrogance.

Erza huffs and storms out of the library as fast as she can, checking her watch again. Three minutes behind schedule. Stupid jerk strikes again.

* * *

 _Hey, everyone. Gray and Erza's part takes place just after Levy is summoned to the library as she is seen running in after the group of newbie. Just thought that I'd clear that up before confusion takes place. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day._


End file.
